


Scorching

by JuliaM (seshat0120)



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Drama, Gen, Hurt Ezra Standish, Hurt Vin Tanner, Hurt/Comfort, Magnificent Seven AU: ATF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24688867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seshat0120/pseuds/JuliaM
Summary: Ezra and Vin run into a spot of trouble searching a shipping container yard on a hot summer day.
Kudos: 31





	Scorching

Blinding noon day sun beat down on the container yard just outside of Denver. It made the already blistering 95-degree day seem even hotter than it already was. A tip had been called into the Denver offices of the ATF that there was a shipment of illegal firearms in one of the myriads of shipping containers in the yard. With only a partial container number, Team Seven had been sent to search it out.

“It looks like a maze,” Buck complained as he and the other members of Team Seven stood on the edge of the container yard and looked it over.

“Finding a needle in a haystack might be easier,” Ezra commented as he adjusted his sunglasses. He glanced up at the sun. “Perhaps we could delay this little scavenger hunt until it’s not quite as...” he was unable to finish before Chris cut him off.

“No. We can’t delay the search just to suit your comfort. Maybe you can put in a request for criminals to work according to your comfort schedule.” Truthfully, Chris was no happier to be searching the shipping containers than Ezra or the rest were. Currently, though, they had no active cases they were working on that took top priority so, when the tip came in, they were the most readily available to conduct the search. “You’ve all been given your grids to search so get to it and keep in radio contact.”

“And make sure you’ve got water with you,” Nathan added. “As hot as it is today, we don’t want anyone with heat stroke or dehydrating.”

“Don’t even say it, Ezra,” Chris ordered pinning his agent with a glare. “None of us are happy with this field trip.”

Ezra held up his hands and gave Chris as innocent a look as he could with his eyes covered by the mirrored lenses of his sunglasses. “I wasn’t intending on saying anything other than to wish us all luck that we complete this little hunt expeditiously and, perhaps, suggest that the first round should be on whomever is successful.”

Vin chuckled and shook his head slightly. “Translation to that being that you’re gonna find a nice shady spot to hang back in.”

“I take umbrage at that accusation, Mr. Tanner. I just sought to make this search a little more interesting.”

“No umbrage intended, Ezra. Hell, I was thinkin’ I’d join you.”

“How about if we all stop thinkin’ and accusin’ and jawin’ away and get to work,” Chris commanded. When no one made a move right away he snapped at them, “Now!” As the other six scattered in various directions, he shook his head slightly. “Herding cats would be easier,” he mumbled.

7777777

They’d broken up into teams of two: Buck and JD, Josiah and Nathan, and Vin and Ezra. the search grid Vin and Ezra had been assigned was in the area furthest from the office building where Chris had set up a command post. Ezra had refused to get in Vin’s Jeep, so they were slowly driving their area in Ezra’s Jag.

They’d been searching for fifteen minutes when Ezra looked up at the crates that were piled five and sometimes six high. “I’m hoping if the container we’re looking for happens to be at the top, Chris doesn’t intend for us to climb up there.”

“Nah,” Vin said after swigging some of the water in his bottle. “We radio back, and they’ll send a forklift out get it down.” He looked left and right at the containers stretching in both directions. I just hope we find this thing sooner than later.

When they reached the end of the row, they saw one container down on the ground, off to the side, and opened. Ezra stopped driving and the two exchanged looks that said it couldn’t be that easy. “775398,” Ezra read off the side it. “The last four digits match the partial number that was called in.”

Vin reached for his radio. “I’ll call it in and let the others know.”

Ezra held up a staying hand. “Before we do that, why don’t we take a look inside since it’s opened.” He took off his seatbelt and reached to open the car door. “No sense in calling off the search and pulling the others here if this isn’t it.”

Vin hesitated for a moment, then agreed.

Drawing their weapons, the two approached the opened door cautiously. Seeing no one, first Ezra and then Vin stepped into the shipping container. They’d only taken a few steps further in when the door slammed shut behind them.

“What the hell,” Vin exclaimed as he turned back to the door. He tried to push it open, but it was either locked or jammed in place. “Hey! Open this up!” he yelled as he slammed on the door.

“It would appear our captors would prefer us in here than outside,” Ezra observed.

“Yeah.” Vin grabbed the radio and called through to Chris to him know it looked like they’d found the right shipping container, but they were now trapped inside it. Static was the only thing that answered him back. “Damn. All the metal must be blocking the signal or something.”

Ezra pulled out his phone but saw that he had no signal. “I can’t get a call out. You?”

“No signal on mine either.”

“That’s just wonderful,” Ezra complained. He gave a futile kick to the door.

Vin took a few steps deeper into the shipping containing, the metal ringing beneath his footsteps. “Guess we’re stuck here until the others find us.” He chuckled as he turned back to Ezra. “Guess we found a shady place to hole up.”

“I wouldn’t count on that, Vin.” Ezra said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. “It may be dark in here, but as this is a metal box in full sunlight, I don’t think it’ll be long before it soon feels like an oven. We’d best hope our compatriots find us quickly.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.” Vin pulled out his phone again and toggled the flashlight app on. The small but powerful light broke through the darkness. “Might as well see what we’ve got while we’re waiting.” He approached one of the crates that was pried open. Pushing the lid back, he shined the light from his phone inside then let out a low whistle. He reached in and pulled out one of the contents and held it up. “Guess we found it.”

Ezra pulled out his phone to use the flashlight app as well and came over to Vin. He shined the light into the crate to see how many more weapons it contained then panned the light over the contents of the shipping container mentally estimating just how many weapons were in the crates he could see. “Quite a haul by my calculation. I don’t think the owners are going to want to leave this lying around nor are they going to want to let us out any time soon. We’d better hope Chris and the others locate us before they decide to move this.”

“If we could just find a hole to stick the radio through, we could get a message out to Chris.” Vin walked back to where the door was and knocked gently on it. “Think we could shoot a hole through it?”

Ezra joined Vin by the closed door, and also knocked on it. “As I’m sure I don’t need to remind you, Mr. Tanner, physics says that’s not very likely.”

“What’s physics got to do with it?”

Ezra rolled his eyes, which he knew Vin couldn’t see in the dark. “Bullets bounce.”

“Why didn’t you just say a ricochet...and don’t roll your eyes at me.”

“How did you...”

“I can hear it in your voice.” Using his phone’s light, Vin went back over to a low stack of crates and sat. “Guess we might as well get comfortable until the cavalry gets here.”

Wiping sweat from his brow; Ezra sat on the crate next to Vin. “I’m not sure comfortable is possible anymore. Feels like it must be at least a hundred degrees in here.” He leaned back against the metal wall behind him but quickly pulled away when he felt the heat penetrate his shirt. “We’re never going to hear the end of it from Nathan that we left our water in the Jag.”

The two men were quiet for a while before Vin spoke again. “I guess this means we’re buying the first round.”

“If it means sitting in air conditioning with a cold drink, I’ll buy all of them,” Ezra volunteered.

“I’d’a thought heat wouldn’t bother you so much.”

“Because I was born in South Carolina,” Ezra stated. “Everyone seems to think that. I’ve spent just as much of my life in New England and New York as I have down south. All that’s done is prove to me I’m not fond of either extreme in temperature.”

“Guess I know what you mean. Everyone usually assumes I’m ok with some extra heat ‘cause I’m from Texas. Hot is hot...although I’d rather deal with heat than cold and snow.”

“The cold’s not so bad. At least you can put on layers to keep you warm. You can’t really do that when it’s hot.” Ezra pulled his tie loose and opened the top button of his shirt. “I wouldn’t mind sitting in a snowdrift right now, though,” he said as wiped the sweat from his brow. “How long do you think before we’re in real trouble.”

Vin shrugged even though Ezra couldn’t see him. “I figure we’ve got an hour or so...but Chris’ll find us before then.”

Ezra couldn’t hold back a laugh of disbelief. “You put a lot of faith that Mr. Larabee is going to psychically know we’re in trouble and could use a timely rescue.”

“Nope. That’s not it. We’re supposed to check in every fifteen minutes. Once we miss two check ins, he’ll send someone over this way to check on us if he doesn’t come himself so he can ream us out.”

“Well, that I can agree with.”

7777777

Chris was willing to write off the first missed check in by Ezra and Vin. He wouldn’t put it past Ezra to try to sit out the hunt as long as possible. He couldn’t blame him much for trying. The day was too damned hot and the container yard too damned big for his men to be searching it by themselves. When they missed the second, first he got angry and then he got worried. Ezra may have tried to delay the search and Vin might have even been willing to join him for a time, but he knew both men were superb agents and wouldn’t shirk their duty. Something was up. He radioed the others to see if they’d heard from either of the missing agents but received negative replies.

“I’m going to head over to where they were supposed to be searching. Nathan, you and Josiah head that way, too. I’ve got a bad feeling those two probably found a way to get into some kind of trouble.”

Chris left the office and headed out to his pickup to drive over to Ezra’s and Vin’s assigned area. He cursed himself for pairing his two trouble magnets up yet again.

7777777

Vin had lost track of how much time he and Ezra had been locked in the storage container. He just knew it was too long to be closed in a metal box in the sun on a scorching summer day. He knew they were in trouble.

Ezra had started complaining of a headache around the same time he’d felt the throbbing in his own head that was soon accompanied by nausea. The last time he’d used the flashlight on his phone to check his friend, he’d found him curled up on the floor. He’d shaken his shoulder to rouse him, but Ezra had only blinked up at him in confusion. Although his shirt was soaked through with sweat, it didn’t seem to Vin like he was still sweating...and he knew that meant big trouble.

About the only thing he could find to be thankful for, so far, was that no one had come back to move the container. That had been and still was one of his main worries. He guessed the only reason that might not have happened so far was that the rest of Team Seven was still searching the yard.

Another few minutes went by – at least he guessed it was minutes. At this point the passage of time was so skewed for him it could have been hours. He thought he heard a vehicle outside and maybe voices. Staggering over to door, he started to pound on it. He would have called out, too, but he didn’t have the energy. He was surprised when the door suddenly opened. In the blinding sunlight outside, he wasn’t able to make out more than a silhouette of the person standing in the door as he sagged forward into its arms.

7777777

Chris was nearly to the far side of the yard where Ezra and Vin were supposed to be when JD radioed that he and Buck had found Ezra’s Jag not far from where they were looking. There was no sign of either Vin or Ezra. He was just acknowledging JD when he spied the out of place container that was on the ground. Like Vin and Ezra, he noticed the last four digits matched the partial number they had and told JD and Buck to head over to where he was.

He was just getting out of the pickup when Nathan and Josiah drove up.

“Think this could have something to do with Ezra and Vin going missing,” Josiah asked?

“Seems most likely.” Chris called out for Ezra and Vin. When he received no answer, he drew his weapon. Josiah and Nathan followed suit and, cautiously, the three men approached the shipping container.

When they were close to it, he noticed that something was wedged in to keep it closed. He could also hear a faint banging coming from inside of. He exchanged looks with Josiah and Nathan. Gesturing for the two of them to cover him, he reached for the bar that wedged the door closed and pulled it free and then opened the door. He had less than a moment to register the fact that Vin was on the other side of the door before he collapsed in his arms. “Nathan,” he called as he lowered Vin to the ground.

Almost immediately, Nathan was kneeling on the ground by Chris and Vin. He quickly took in Vin’s pale and sweaty face and reached to pull open his shirt. “We need to get him cooled off.”

“Ezra,” Vin muttered. You gotta help him.

Chris and Josiah exchanged a look then both went into the shipping container. They found Ezra close to the door. He neither moved nor made a sound as they quickly scooped him up and carried him outside, laying him down next to Vin.

“We need an ambulance, now!” Nathan declared as he looked over to Ezra. Where Vin was pale and sweating, he saw that Ezra’s face was flushed and, although his clothes were soaked through with sweat, he didn’t seem to be perspiring anymore. “Damn it.” He moved closer to Ezra and felt for a pulse. It was so fast he wasn’t able to count the beats. “Get his clothes off,” he ordered Josiah. “We need to get cooled down as quick as possible.

“Nathan?” Chris asked.

“I don’t know,” Nathan said with a quick headshake. “Judging by the way they look, Vin’s got heat exhaustion. He should be ok once he gets cooled down and some fluids in him. Looks like Ezra’s got heat stroke.”

Chris didn’t need Nathan to tell him how much worse that was. He saw Buck and JD drive up and waved them over. “Get on the phone and get medics here.”

“Tell them one suspected case of heat exhaustion and one heat stroke,” Nathan added. “And give me all the water you have…and get whatever’s in my Explorer and Chris’s pickup.”

“Drive to the entrance and wait for the ambulance and lead them here,” Chris added. “We don’t need them to waste time trying to find us.”

Once they’d brought over all the water bottles they could find between the three vehicles, Buck and JD drove back to the yard entrance. Nathan grabbed one of the bottles, uncapped, and held it to Vin’s mouth. “Small sips,” he warned him. He looked over to Josiah who managed to strip Ezra down to just his boxer shorts. “Start wetting him down. Chris, find something to fan him with so the water evaporates. It’ll start cooling him.”

It took about fifteen minutes for medics to arrive, but it seemed like longer to the three men who worked to cool their friends down. Once the medics were there, though, time seemed to speed up and soon the two men were loaded into ambulances that sped off.

Chris stood with his hands on his hips watching the ambulances disappear. He wanted to follow but knew they needed to secure the scene first. Once the wail of the siren faded away, he turned back to the shipping container. “Let’s see what’s in there. Nathan, you go the hospital and keep us updated on their condition.”

7777777

The sun was already setting by the time the scene had been secured at the container yard. The weapons in the shipping container had been taken into custody as well as Ezra’s Jag until a CSU team had gone over it looking for any fingerprints or any other evidence to tie it in with the weapons in the shipping container. The hope was that they’d find some kind of lead on who was behind it all.

Chris had kept in contact with Nathan getting periodic updates about Vin and Ezra’s condition. Although Vin had quickly responded to treatment, it had been touch and go for a while with Ezra. When they got to the hospital, Nathan was waiting for them in the ER waiting area. “How are they?” Chris asked as soon as he saw them.

“Vin’s been moved to a room. They want to keep him overnight just to make sure there are no complications. He should be released tomorrow morning.”

“Ezra?” Chris asked.

“I just talked with his doctor a few minutes ago. They had a little trouble getting his body temperature to lower but it’s down to just over 100 now. They’ve also got the tachycardia controlled.”

“Tachycardia?” Buck asked.

“He had a very rapid heartbeat. That’s controlled now, though. They are monitoring him for any kidney damage, but the doctor didn’t seem to think that would show up. He’d going to have to be here a bit longer than Vin, but he should make a full recovery.”

“I don’t get why Ezra’s so much worse off than Vin,” JD said. “They were both in there for the same amount of time.”

“It doesn’t always work that way. Different people can respond differently to high temperature. Plus, this isn’t the first time Ezra’s had heat stroke.” Seeing the questioning looks on the faces of the others, Nathan explained, “He mentioned one time that he had heat stroke when he was in college. I think he said something about running in the heat.” He shrugged not remembering all the specifics Ezra had told him, just that hit had happened. “That would make him more susceptible to it happening again.”

“But he’s going to be ok,” Josiah clarified.

“He should. The doctor said he was awake and aware of what was going on.”

“Can we see them?” Chris asked.

“Someone’s supposed to let me know what room they’re in. They were going to move Ezra in with Vin since they’ve got him stabilized.”

It was another twenty minutes before a nurse came looking for them. She let them know what room Vin and Ezra were in but cautioned them that since visiting hours were almost over, they wouldn’t be able to stay long.

When they got to the room, a doctor was just coming out. Chris introduced himself and asked how Vin and Ezra were.

“They’re both doing well. Mr. Tanner will be released in the morning.”

“And Ezra?”

“He’ll have to stay a little longer. His temperature’s stabilized but we’re still keeping a watch on his kidney’s.”

“Has there been any change in that?” Nathan asked.

“There hasn’t,” the doctor told them. “Right now, it’s more of a precaution and I don’t anticipate any problems.”

“So, then he’s going to be fine,” Buck stated.

“Given time,” the doctor cautioned. “He’s not just going to bounce back from this right away. He’ll likely fatigue easily over the next several days to weeks. He’ll have an intolerance for heat that could last anywhere from a few months to a few years. The most important thing is going to be for him to take it easy over the next few weeks.”

Buck huffed out a quick laugh. “Like that’s going to be easy for him to do.”

“He’ll have no choice. His body will force him to take it easy.” The doctor moved away from the door leading to room. “I’ll let you gentlemen look in on them briefly. They were both sleeping, and I want them to remain that way,” he informed them sternly. “Your and your team’s reputation precede you, Mr. Larabee. I’ll allow one of you to remain with your men overnight but the other four of you should be on your way home within 10 minutes. I won’t have you disrupting this hospital.”

Chris had to hide a smile at the doctor’s words. He knew when one or more of the team were in the hospital, he and the others could be a bit fanatical about staying. It wasn’t that they meant to be disruptive. It sometimes just happened. “Yes, sir. I’ll be sure these yahoos are on their way.” He looked at the other four daring any of them to argue that they’d be staying instead of him.

“Glad we’re in agreement. If you have any other concerns or questions, you can ask to have me paged.”

“Thanks,” Chris said. Once the doctor had left, he looked at the others. “We’re going to do just what the man says so don’t even think of staying.”

“But Chris,” Josiah began only for Chris to cut him off with a look. He held up his hands in surrender.

“Good.” Chris pushed opened the door and all but tiptoed in. He stood between the two beds looking over his men.

Vin lay sleeping in the bed closest to the door. There was just a sheet pulled over him. Since he wasn’t hooked up to an IV, it was easy for him to curl slightly on his side.

In the bed closes to the window, Ezra lay on his back sleeping. Chris knew this was an unnatural position for the undercover agent but the number of tubes and wires leading to his body made any other position impossible. He took note of the wires leading to a heart monitor and the IV snaking down to Ezra’s left arm. As his gaze wandered, he noticed the urine collection bag hanging at the side of the bed and couldn’t help grimacing at the thought of where the tube from it ended.

Nathan slipped around Chris so he could get closer to the head of Ezra’s bed. He first looked at the readings on the heart monitor and then down to the collection bag. “It all looks good,” he told the others.

“Ok,” Chris said once the others had stood around for a few minutes looking at their fallen team members. He made sure to keep his voice low. “You’ve seen them and they’re both sleeping. Now the four of you need to head home before the doc sends someone up here to send us all home.” Surprisingly, none of his men argued with him although they all said they’d be back in the morning before leaving.

Once he was alone, Chris pulled a chair from the corner of the room and put it between the two beds where he could keep a watch on both men and make sure there were no escape attempts. He knew from experience that it didn’t matter how many tubes or wires might be attached, his men could find a way of getting away.

7777777

Chris was idly flipping through an old copy of Sports Illustrated one of the nurses had brought in for him. Dim light came in from the hallway, but it wasn’t enough for him to actually read the magazine. So far, both patients had been quiet for the most part. There had been the odd dissatisfied grumbling from Ezra when he tried to turn onto his side, but he’d quickly quieted down. He hadn’t heard anything form Vin...yet.

As he tossed the magazine on one of the bedside tables and got up to stretch, he heard the rustling of sheets from Vin’s bed. He turned to check on him and saw that he was awake. “Hey. How are you feeling?” He made sure to keep his voice low so he wouldn’t wake Ezra.

“Better than I was.” Vin fumbled with the bed controls until he was more upright. Once he was comfortable, he reached for the cup of water on the tray table. Once he’d drank his fill, he looked over to where Ezra slept. “How’s Ez doing?”

“The doctor says he’s doing a lot better.”  
  
“What the hell happened? After that door slammed closed, I kept expecting someone to move that container with us in it. Did you catch who did it?”

Chris sat down and hitched his chair closer to Vin’s bed. “Not yet. We’re hoping to get a hit on the prints they were able to get from the outside of the door. They were the same as what they pulled off Ezra’s Jag. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense that we can figure.”

“Nothing about this whole thing made a whole lot of sense, Chris. Right from the call that came in. Seems like it was all just a little too easy.”

“It does. It’s not our concern anymore, though. Judge moved the investigation over to Reynold’s team. From what I heard; they’re going to be scouring that whole yard over the next couple of days.”

“They thinking someone at the yard has something to do with it?”

“That’s what it’s starting to look like. All I know is Reynolds and his boys are welcomed to searching that place.”

“Yeah,” Vin agreed. “I’d like a piece of whoever locked Ez and me in that metal box, though. I wasn’t so sure Ez was going to make it.”

“It was touch and go when we got the two of you out.” Chris glanced over Ezra who was still sleeping peacefully. “Important thing is that you’re both going to be fine.”

“Speak for yourself,” a raspy voice said from the other bed causing Chris to whirl back around. He was sure the other man had been sleeping peacefully. “I want to know what my vehicle had to do with this?”

“How long have you been awake?” Chris demanded.

“Long enough to know my vehicle was somehow involved in the day’s events. I’d like to know why.” Like Vin, Ezra used the bed controls to get himself more upright. As he did, he felt a tug in a rather intimate place and grimaced.

“Might not want to move around a lot,” Chris cautioned having caught Ezra’s grimace. “Doc said that can probably come out tomorrow...this morning.”

“Joy. Something to look forward to. Now...my Jag?”

Chris shrugged. “Nothing much to tell. We found it over on the other end of the yard from where the two of you were searching. The only thing we can guess is that whoever locked you in that container must have driven it there and left it, but we’ve got no idea why. This whole operation has been one crazy mix up from the start.”

Ezra eyed the cup of water that was just out of reach and contemplated if he wanted to try leaning over to get it. Deciding it was too much work, he nodded toward it. “Would you mind?” He drained nearly the full cup once Chris had handed it to him. “Might I suggest the next time a wild goose chase is suggested that politely tell those who are choosing to assign us to chase said good that we’ve all developed life-threatening allergies to geese.”

“I was thinking of just telling ‘em to find someone else,” Chris said around a chuckle that quickly became a yawn.

“Go home, Cowboy,” Vin suggested when he saw the yawn. “We’re both going to be fine. You don’t need to sit here with us all night. Get some sleep.”

“Oh no. The second I turn my back on your two, you’ll just pull a Houdini. I don’t feel like getting home only to get a call telling either or both of you is gone.” Rubbing both hands over his face, Chris shook his head slightly. “I’m too damned tired for that.”

“Then go home,” Ezra said as he tried to hide a yawn of his own. “You have my word, Chris. As much as I may despise being a guest in a medical institution, the only thing I plan on doing is laying here and sleeping. I just don’t have the wherewithal to try to make my way to my abode.”

“What he said,” Vin chimed in.

Chris looked between the two men weighing the veracity of their words. Ezra was struggling to keep his eyes open and Vin didn’t look much better. The day could have ended much differently they’d just been a little longer in finding the two, but both of his men were here, and they would both make a complete recovery in time. “Ok, he agreed. “But I swear, if I get a call that either of so much as twitched a toe out of bed, I will personally find you and tie you in place.” Getting nods of agreement from both of the bedridden men, he got up. “Ok. I’ll see you later this morning, then.”

Silence fell in the room after Chris left. The only sounds were the soft rustling sounds as either Vin or Ezra shifted in bed. Vin had nearly drifted back to sleep when he heard a drowsy “Aw hell,” from the other bed. “Huh?” he questioned. He waited a few seconds, but Ezra said nothing else. Pushing up on one elbow he looked over to see if he’d fallen asleep and whispered, “Ezra?”

“Hmmm...” Ezra murmured then shifted so he could look in Vin’s direction. “It just occurred to me. Our compatriots know that we found shipping container. You know what that means?”

Vin chuckled. Despite almost getting his brain cooked, of course Ezra would remember the bet he’d instituted. “Guess the first round’s on us, Pard.”

“Indeed,” Ezra agreed then smiled slightly. Knowing he had such good friends to watch his back, it was a small price to pay.


End file.
